Voluntary Sterilization

KANE, Attorney General,

You have been asked whether the law requires that a hospital and/or doctor obtain spousal consent before performing a voluntary sterilization operation on a married person. You indicate that many hospitals and physicians in Pennsylvania have a policy of requiring spousal consent before performing a sterilization operation on a married individual, and that the Department of Health has received numerous complaints from the public regarding this practice. It is our opinion, and you are so advised, that there is no statutory or case law in Pennsylvania that requires a…